Furukawa Lear Corporation Converted into Wholly Owned Subsidiary
~ To Expand Automotive Parts Business in North America ~

Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (“FEC”) and Furukawa Automotive Systems Inc. (Head Office: Koura-cho, Inukami-gun, Shiga Prefecture; hereinafter referred to as the “Group” collectively with FEC) have converted Furukawa Lear Corporation (“FLC”), a joint venture with Lear Corporation (Head Office: Michigan, the United States; hereinafter referred to as “Lear”), into a wholly owned Group subsidiary, by purchasing from Lear 20% of shares in FLC in which the Group had made an 80% investment.

Acquisition background and purpose

FLC was founded in 1987 as a joint venture between the Group and United Technologies Automotive, Inc. with investment ratios of 49 to 51 for manufacturing wire harnesses and selling them to Japanese-affiliated automobile manufacturers in North America. FLC had continued to manufacture and sell wire harnesses under Lear’s management following the acquisition of United Technologies Automotive, Inc. by Lear. In April 2009, the Group purchased 60% of FLC’s shares held by Lear to expand the market for its wire harness business in North America with by improving QCDDM ^{Note 1}, and took control of FLC’s management. The Group has now purchased a further 20% of FLC’s shares that had remained in the hands of Lear, converting the company into a wholly owned Group subsidiary and changing its name to Furukawa Wiring Systems America Inc.

The Group seeks to expand the market for its wire harness business in North America by collaboration and creating synergy with American Furukawa, Inc., a wholly owned FEC subsidiary that manufactures and sells automotive electric components, including wire harness parts in North America, in the field of cost reduction and the further improvement of QCDDM.

Overview of subsidiary following its full acquisition

Company name : Furukawa Wiring Systems America Inc.
Head Office : El Paso City, Texas, the United States
Controlling share : Furukawa Electric Group: 100% (FEC: 60%; Furukawa Automotive Systems: 40%)
President : Akira Matsui
Share purchase effectuation date : June 1, 2010
Paid-in capital : 8 million U.S. dollars (approximately 700 million yen)
Sales for 2009 : Approximately 65 million U.S. dollars (approximately 6 billion yen)
Number of employees as of December 31, 2009 : Approximately 1,350

Glossary

(Note 1)QCDDM:stands for the five conditions automobile manufacturers require their suppliers to fulfill: quality, cost, delivery, development and management.